Cobden Lime Scheme

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 August 1947, Page 2

Cobden Lime Scheme

’. t sir,—Nowhere in New Zealand have I ever heard of one lime works opposing- the ..erection pf_. ; .anQthej, Rather, are new 'oridsj hefirtily/wei~, corned;, such ; isj the demand for lime and more lime. I* don’t think" the need of lime for your district is understood, .gither by, the Ross Lime Company .or farmers,: if . it,.is the purpose of the people to further .land, development. Before land'can he developed in these, heayy. rainfall districts an over-abundance of'gfatelTifnd'is absolutely essential,, and -.at ;the; cheapest possible' rate, arid-just-let me say. here that farmers in England pay',7s, per ton, with freight free" aTI ; oyer - England, and;from; siding- tbifCrm" half the cost is paid_by the Government. We can do much better'th'ah'th'at when we get freight free’ all over' New Zealand. I have already;.submitted'pians* to the proper authority along' thrise lines. I-have watched; Southland develop.. I have watched’ Taranaki develop; and Taranaki has'a'sirnilaf rainfall'to Westland. I have watched the.Waikato develop and not one. pf., those'provinces started to develop until a plentiful supply.pf.cheap lirii'6; was ’'available.J Now they have many, lime works supplying .each, district,' and more in course of .erection,, ...All the new-'works'are heartily welcomed and giveh'th'C of def s the • old; workscannot cope with. Arid lime -is ' still rationed,„ * ._ - I ' need." only: .mention;., Southland again, and. say that s'offfethfrig; like, 750,000 'tdris- : of • lime' is spread each year. How long would"it" take ,10 Ross'lime' companies'to furnish this afhount of lime? ... , ; For. my..P.aX<ihi ..land'at" Westport,' which comprises 30,000 acres, I need as a "first dressing four tons' to' the acre, which means one farm would absorb' 120,0Q'0‘-tons, for:„a"start.' .Sup-; posing.’ the Rossi Company’ increased its output; roughly'; four times', it would still take;...them six years to supply my need,-; without a' - , single ton going’ elsewhere, would be so high that'rnyprop/osifiori in land development would’ be" just hopeless. • , ; . .... . My v proposed plant is. geared Jto 1000 tons output a day—a modern crusher. .1 have, taken; my lime-price, to farmers at 14/6 per ..tori, 1 - fropf Southland’s" ben..lime; , works; u with a much harder Time than’Cobden., I believe' I'can’sell Time .much' cheaper than that. I wanted first to see what the’ cost' wpuld'.be ,and would, rather come' dbwri than go up.'iri price, but so'.’many''people wanted to. know Ijipe costs now'and I was obliged to esti- . I have nd personal quarrel’ with anyone. I am positive a works.such as I pf'pp'o’sritd erect would 'stimulate farm arid"laridTsettlement and would add another gem, possibly the'brighfest, to’your timber, coal and gold.industries: I think I could help even .thri Ross." Company if .-.they r would. let me. I have been compelled-to study the' lime supply question, arid have'.as assbcidtes' very- well informed men, each of whom ha§''his,.specifij.,department; - Lime" product] bn today, .is e science, .from:.the choosing of\ trip site'Lof :the quarry right down''to;.the spreading on the land for the farmer’, tp cause' him the least inconvenience. ■ To -the /Westport people, L would; just Tike'to say this: Since Adam was. atboy, no orie has come alopg tp.arid' develop.. your' pakih’i' lands, known asf,“waste lands,” accordif<to a,' r GovPrnmeri£ 1 booklet" published- iff 1929'.'by 'tb’e'late' W..D. ,G f ., (^ulliya_n . y I afti/positive/l,; can', develop' these lands and show the. w a y. tP.:..fufpx’6 farmers. These.-pakihi' lands could ■a'ccommodate 30'0 farmers, wives and children.' Each’ farm would be 150 acres -.w , /.I have: my. own ideas about how this should "be done, and as' T am spending my own'money I have the right to select .my own lime quarry site, and this will'be done with only orie aim in view—cheap lime and ( mass production',....: ... . . If an economical.'lime, site cannot be found, .then the. whole scheme will fall to the' ground:. If the Cobden site cannot, be obtained—and I see no sensible, reason why not—l know of no other'site up. and down the Coast’which would, meet all my 'requirement's.' So, ge£ behind.....this scheme arid give me your assistance' arid"support'hie in my endeavours to develop your waste lands . and in erecting the most modern lime works in the world, as none to my knowledge adds the miner al elements to lime. Yours, etc., • g:l. johnston: Greym'outh, August ’ll.

, Sir, —When Mr Mulcare made', his. sfatemerif to you .ori Friday las,t, he Wight,' in"addition" tci.his attack on League members and myself," have told.'you his-plans for the future de-, velopment. and..prosperity of the West Coast. What would'.he suggest should be done to overcome the inevitable district loss .when. our diminishing assets are no more? , .1 wonder' whether Mr Mulcare has read Mr. Semple’s. Ten-Year Plan: for'..this district, which the Ministej';. .released -in Gr.eymouth.in Match last,'wherein. No; 1 priority-' relates' to land ■clearing' and development. I wonder also .if. he read the. remarks of the Minister' of Larids/oMt' C. F. Skinner; published' in ’ ybur..issue of June 14, in which', the Minister' states, F inter’ alia: “Supplies' o£lime axe.all_too.urireliab'te'just’now". , . Way?, must/arid' will be fdurid ; ’of.producingi.and distributing' it economically?, and’ as” required.?.,And’agriin: “There is' a great farming potential on the Coast. ... We have' a’great scarcely-touched asPrit in our'land.” . : Judged by his utterances,' it. would seem that Mr' Mulcare is quite, prepared to overlook'the all important matters raised'by'both Cabinet/MiriJstei’s" (they/ can see," „the .ultimate trend 'in ‘Westland’ if nothing’.is done to open hip . our. farming "lands arid to stock them) and’ 5 to' forego district prosperity, for/ the sake of the Boss Liffie" Company. Howie Vrir, the "most , important'omissions from the statement Mr Mulcare made to you con? cerribd ’ the" statemerits he, himself,, made at the May meeting of-the West Coast Federated. Farmers. These appeared, in ’your, issue; of’May - 31?? not ’ three. months ■ ago—and" I .read them'to " the'.Progress League Council "members' at Hokitika, on Tuesday night. .Unfortunately these were not published; and'as'they are so. vital ■to the" main'.lsSue,’ and were' the basis, of the;. League’s, discussion, I would respectfully-, request that, you' publish them in full in this letter/ .

Mr Pratt,\ of' -the Trade's Council, 1 ■had informed.'' league that only that' ait.erhoph, Mr. Mulcare .had' ■been in touch .with him and.stated’ there was ■ definitely no shortage of lime in'Westland.; .In tp. .this' as'seftion, I. .read the ■ Evening Star report, which, to,..ail'.pi J es6m,. showed' very conclusively that the" ■lime position, both in Westland-and-Buller, was- a. very.' worrying.- o'nq?TbXarmers'in'those areas,' as there z

•xTbre threie' remits, dealing very question before' the* Federated Farmers’ meeting.. I will now quote ybriril pape'r's iiitfodrictioh,:; which jeads; . . the company .(referring to 'CoT) -w'ill'c'tfnsideT' the; 'establishing of a Jime-wQrks at a central- position 7 iff' the" province? The inference from this, seems '.to ba that consideration of the position showedthe~ location of . the .Rfiss "works' to ’be unsuitable'and' possibly uneconomic. Further _.on in ;i your same- report appears the following: • “Mr J.‘-Mulcare detailed recent, overtures made by the; Ross Lime Company- to"., the Govefnfrient in an effort ’to obtain improvemrehts - such as electric power and houses' fof workers at Ross. ‘We were led up_ the” garden’ path completely during the past 18 months,’ he said, rfefefrihg to" the request for a power supply! ‘We have now machines,with■ eight .motors which would provide lirrie for ailof '.the West Coast; arid'they are waiting*' for.the. power to arrive.' We' (the company) have come to the conclusion that .we can carry- on' no longer- and we are not going to. We feel we have done“all we’ cam'_We .feel...we - shduldjjet the. Government operate' tkd plant and”were prepared to' recoriiinehd to the., shareholders that the plant be handed over—not sold—to the Goyernnieht as' long- as -the latter assured the farmers of a limri supply! With .this in '.view we met the Cabinet about' five' months ago,; arid; today received their’.decision.' The Government states that it feels at' the present'.time- that' it’. .is not desirable for’ the' State' to” enter' the,lime business, particularly in the I ight of - certain proposals, being gonSidered” for the transport ■ of lime. There is.only one thing we'.can .do now,’' cb'nfinued'Mr Mulcare, ‘and that is.TtPTcloSß'the' yvbrks,: Yet 'if 'ths'Gpverhment;...wants . primary., produce; limd should‘ be its first requirement.’ fie' suggested'that a“ , coiri'rifittee'"b'e set up’.-’ to • place! the- position before the •Prirfie Minister:” ... ... ...

; Trie', above are the .actual,' reported' 'statemfents "of the meeting :ori Mdy 3 o,' and; ,mtfSt' b'e accepted as.be mg •a" Taith'ful ’. record of. the proceeding,' for’ I* have'never seen'any, edntradic-tiOh'-of the remarks'!published-.'. .You will' note that’Mr Mulcare; ■ who 7 was reported aS'- having been managing ’direct or - of the: Ross Company- for. 17 ■years,’ the farmers’ meeting ■that’ the orily thing to do was to close' the",works.' He did not; tell, the farnlefs'how;'they were going.to fare when the' Rd'Ss works ceased'operations;' he did not suggest'ariy alternative sp.ufce of supply.’ Evidently he •was riot greatly concerned'.until the Cob'den project was again brought to .light. SftrelyJ with his long" experience of, farming and the lime business,, arid his knowledge thgt r „pur West. Coast lands want lime, urgently, he should have advised the cpiripariy’s’'customers how they 'were to' carry on after the Ross Company had .closed down. 1 . ...

It ■seems extraordinary, too, that M Mulcare did not make ariy public s.tdtement.on the subject until Mr Johnston made 1 his recent aririouricement that he is prepared to.; invest £l6,ooo''in‘our district, provided he is'pedmitied to’ set up an up'-tq-date lime \VQtks in Cobden. Mr-Mulcare now sets out to stifle Mr Johnston’s enterprise ,and the district’s new industry. Arid don’t we need new in.dustfies'.badly? Here we have two pu.zzling' statements —Mr Mulcare ■leSs than three months ago, indicates ■that' the" Government will have" n;o--’thing/to"do_with the lime' bukiriess, arid' th"e"o‘riTy*th'iri’g to do is to. shut the vjqrks; As. latq as Tuesday last'Mr Muic’rire; advised Mr Pratt there .was no? lime* shortage in this district. .These’staterherits. simply do not make sense, and"'l will leave it to your readers to endeavour to work out the answer,.

Regarding price quotations given by~ rhe and'to which Mr Mulcare takes., strong objection, I advised league members that a Ba.rrytqwn farmer had told me that Ross lime cost him 29s per ton on rail, Rapahoe, with a further 15s for cartage to his •farm. Does Mr Mulcare deny - the truth of this farmer’s , statement?. Does he deny that this same farmer cannot get his full requirements from Ross?

I also advised Tuesday’s meeting that Mr Johnston was’ prepared to provide lime from the Cobden works at no greater cost than 14s. 6d per tori. Is Mr Mulcare prepared to deny that Mr Johnston gave me. this'information? If' Mr Mulcare is not prepared to accept Mr Johnston’s figure, I suggest he makes a point of interviewing Mr Johnston personally (this gentleman, I am sure, will'be’glad to meet hiiri'. seeing he waited, the whole •of,.Thursday afternoon for.,a. confereric'e', after he, Mr Johnston, had been advised that it had been arranged for Mr Mulcare to call on him) arid ascertain the position for himself. Finrill'y I wish to say,.that the comments I made at the league meeting were.made by me in my. capacity as. an .executive member, arid not as secretary. I. apologise for taking up so rriuch of your space, but the future possibilities of’ the whole' of Westland',' ffom'a farming viewpoint, seem to.’.tie' up''with, the establishment of a supply/of .the; first essential—lime, arid plenty of; it—and along with Mr Chibnail,, and I should say every farseeing resident .in the district. 1 w»"t th see our district developed. Mr Skinner.,-speaking in Westport, also •said:’. We have too long been the Cinderella", of; New Zealand.” I agree',’, arid.'l' agree also that the establishment, of .the lime' works in Cobden, will be the first step towards district .prosperity for all time. Yours, etc.,

. . J. SAUNDERS. Greymouth, August 11.

'.- has been said’that the Ross' lime ..works would have' to close if another'was opened..! Any. person' who is genuinely interested in farming'; on the.'West Coast knows’ that' a" lime, works at Cobden would have' little’effect on the output of the Ross works.. Those who listened to the experts on agriculture from Lincoln College or to .any of .the field instruc-. tors .who have .been on the Coast know'that'even two lime works would be insufficient to cope with the amount .of; lime, required. I; .understand that Mr Mulcare stated:, there■ is 1 no shortage of lime and _that ‘ only now and again there may be a delay; I wish to point out that. no...farmer can afford to have any. delay with his liming; that is, 1 the farmer who gets his complete.liv-. ing off his land, I think that if all the; land;.. owners could get all the’ lime they require, when they require it,; ahd also at a reasonable price, Mr.Greenslade’sso r called “parasites” would soon' vanish. It has been stated that only one farmer gets about 800 tons a year, and; .according to Mr. Mulcare’s report, Ross'!produces about 5000. tons a’ygar. Mr Mulcare knows, quite well ihpt South,.Westland .could ,use double thWamqunt "'without any ’ SeveraF farmers, in this district

have been waiting, ,for lime „ for months;'arid' still '.there- iyno signto.f it arriving; so',' perhaps' Mr 'might .do spriirithirig',about speeding upt' our' supplies. The Cob'den; lime ip'ay; not. haye*'■ a£ ‘ highi a liihe, bu£;that is balanced by quantity, convenient locality. If Messrs Johnston and L'eod"are-prepared-to-supplyMhe.~lime-as .they- say they are, then that is the~onlyanswer; and-the-rbest answer, ■ tq the lime shortage on-the-arid I am sure they will' be" givenevery support from the farmers. —- Yours,-etc:;' , ‘ , H. LANGRIDGE." Barry town,’ August 11.